Sanctuary of the Angels
by Blkmeow13
Summary: A simple caravan from a simple town, but the old legends say this town was once something far more than just an ordinary settlement. Some even go so far as to suggest it was built by the angels themselves...
1. Awaken

A little story about the people from my caravan. They're mostly Clavats and Selkies, with one Yuke who will show up later. In the mean time, here's some info on the three who appear in the first chapter.

* * *

Conro- Clavat, Age 18: Oldest son of the town blacksmith and leader of Seraphine's caravan. Has dark reddish-brown hair and grey eyes. Wears a long black coat with a grey shirt and black pants underneath. 

Mari- Selkie, Age 17: Middle daughter in a family of alchemists. Has long navy-blue hair and sea-green eyes. Wears a dark blue dress that goes just past her knees with a slit up the left side to the hip, black knee-high boots, and a black ribbon in her hair.

Zenas- Clavat, Age 17: Second son in a family of farmers. Has light blonde hair and green eyes. Wears tan pants and coat with a cream colored shirt and black dragon embroidered on the back of the coat.

* * *

"Conro, snap out of it!" A loud shout beckoned him back to reality. 

"Huh? What's going on?" the dazed swordsman asked, looking at the Selkie girl who'd shouted directly in his ear.

"What do you mean what's going on! You were zoning out again! What happens if we're attacked by bandits or something while you're daydreaming?" Mari continued shouting at him.

"Relax, Mari! Jeez, you know you don't have to shout when I'm right next to you!" Conro complained, "Besides, there aren't any bandits out here, you know that!" He sighed as Mari scowled at his last remark. She was always like that, always worrying about every little thing. In that regard she really reminded him of his mother. Walking beside the wagon, he heard his best friend Zenas echo his sigh. All business as usual, the anti-social Clavat seemed to simply disregard the antics of the two in the wagon.

"So, where shall we go for the last drop of myrrh?" Zenas asked quietly. His two companions stared at him for a moment in surprise. It was unusual for him to even join a conversation, much less start one. "It was just a simple question…" he said returning his friend's stares with a calm look.

"Well…um…" said Mari, at a rare loss for words, "since this is our fourth year out here, why don't we go to the River Belle Path? The tree there ought to be refreshed by now, and it's right on the way home after all."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Conro agreed with a nod. Reconsidering his statement a moment later he said "Actually, why don't we go the Goblin Wall instead? It's on the way too and I kind of feel like taking out some of those dumb goblins, just for fun" With a grin he began to finger the handle of his sword in anticipation. "Besides, next year Niora will be coming with us for the first time, and I figure it will be a good place for us to show her the ropes." As he added this last part, Conro shot a sideways glance at Zenas, looking for any change in his expression. It was a well known fact in the town that he liked her. In fact the only people who didn't seem to realize it were Niora herself and her best friend, Kriah. But, Zenas' face remained as expressionless as usual. Conro just sighed again. _Maybe things will be more exciting next year_, he thought closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep once again.

* * *

He was completely surrounded by the darkness; he could feel it closing in around him, smothering him. Suddenly, a woman appeared before him, dressed all in black with blood red hair settling in waves about her shoulders and reaching down to her waist. A quick glance at her eyes revealed them to be the same striking shade of pure, blood red, but he could only look for a moment before he averted his gaze. It wasn't the shade of her eyes that bothered him, but rather the look in them, as if she was staring straight through him. 

"Look at me, Conro." She said, speaking in a calm and gentle voice. Hesitantly, he brought his eyes back up to meet hers. He nearly jumped at the sight, now noticing what he had apparently missed before, the pair of pure black feathered wings upon her back.

"Y…you…what are you?" he stammered, now staring at her with wide eyes.

"What a sad child…" she said, shaking her head. "You don't even know what you are, do you?"

"Wha..what do you m..mean?" He continued to stutter. Trying to regain his composure he began again "Who are you exactly? And what do you want from me?" At this she smiled and replied,

"Why, child, I am your ancestor, and I'm here because I need your help"


	2. Marking

Ahh! It's good to be back! My stupid computer is screwed up, so I was trying to get some more chapters done while I was down at my mom's house. I wrote this and chapters for my other stories while I was down there, but I didn't get a chance to post it. I tried to finish posing it during after-hours at school, but then I had to post it on the computer at my Dad's office since the stupid teacher kicked me out of after-hours for sticking up for my friend. oO Anyways, enough about ahole teachers, on with the chapter!

* * *

"Help? How could I help you?" Conro asked, now even more bewildered than before at this strange woman's request. She simply continued to smile at him for a moment then, without warning, she suddenly disappeared, reappearing right in front of him just a second later. Conro gasped sharply, and tried to step back, to get away from her, but found his entire body seemed to be frozen.

Still retaining her smile, the woman said "You shall find out soon enough" and as she said these words she reached out with her left hand and gripped his left shoulder firmly. Almost instantly it felt as if his arm was burning. He tried once again to get away from her, this time succeeding in stumbling back away from the strange woman, back into the seemingly limitless darkness that surrounded him.

Snapping up into a sitting position, Conro suddenly found himself in a familiar place. He looked around the back of the wagon, wondering how long he'd been out. Taking the sleeves of his coat, which had been placed over him like a blanket, he tied it loosely around his waist and stepped out of the wagon. Stretching to work out the incredible stiffness that seemed to have accumulated in his muscles, he ambled over to the small fire his two companions had made. Both Zenas and Mari were facing away from him, staring out toward the horizon in silence. "Hey, what's with the long faces?!" he shouted right behind them, grinning as they both jumped up and stared at him in shock. Zenas quickly recovered his usual stoic appearance, but Mari wasn't quite so controlled. Conro stumbled backwards to get away from her as her face was suddenly uncomfortably close to his. She simple moved closer once again, this time placing one hand on his forehead.

"Are you ok?! Omigod, I was so worried! But you're finally awake, so that means you're ok, right?!" she said, all in rapid fire. Conro's head swirled as he tried make sense of what she was yelling at him.

"What are you talking about? Why wouldn't I be ok?" he asked her, totally confused. She was acting like the world might have fallen in while he was asleep.

"What do you mean? You've been unconscious for three days! You had a really high fever and you were muttering in your sleep and tossing and turning and I thought you were gonna die and…and!!"

Conro seized her by the shoulders to stop her escalading screech "Breathe woman, BREATHE!" Mari was now gasping for breath, eyes wide as she stared at him. Releasing her, he tried to reassure the frantic Selkie "Look Mari, I'm fine, you see? I'm not gonna die, I'm FINE!" Mari continued staring at him for a moment, but seemed to have calmed down slightly. Then, without warning, she suddenly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his chest. Conro tensed up, startled. He was sure his face must be turning red, and a quick glance at the rare grin on Zenas' face confirmed it. Feeling rather awkward, Conro gingerly patted her on the back. She simply gripped him tighter. Zenas, still grinning to himself, walked off to begin packing up the few things they'd taken out into the wagon. After a short while, Mari released Conro and the two of them joined him in packing.

...

"So, where'd you two go to get the last drop of Myrrh?" Conro asked Mari, seated beside her on the bench of the wagon. He had wanted to walk, but she'd insisted he rest awhile longer. Zenas sat in back next to the recently filled chalice.

Glancing at him a moment, Mari replied "We went to the Goblin Wall, like you suggested. I didn't want to leave you all by yourself, so Zenas actually went to the tree alone." Conro sighed. He'd been looking forward to some combat, and here Zenas got to have all the fun. Staring off into the thick mist that had settled over the area, he began thinking of his strange dream. He felt as if he knew the woman, she seemed so familiar, and yet for some reason her presence had alarmed him even before she spoke. Sighing to himself, he tried to put it from his mind. After all, it was just a dream, no matter how real it may have seemed. Rubbing his shoulder, which had been aching since he woken up earlier, he dozed off.

...

"Hey, wake up you lazy moron!" Conro snapped up once again as someone screamed at him. Blinking rapidly to adjust to the light, he found his cousin, Marrane standing over him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her groggily. "Shouldn't you be home helping Mom and looking after the little kids?" Grinning at her, he added "And _helping_ Welsh around the shop?"

She gasped at the last part, turning slightly red and, after hitting him on the back of the head, replied "You shut up about that! And besides, since you obviously hadn't noticed, YOU'RE HOME, STUPID!"

"Oh, really?" he said, finally looking around. Sure enough, he was still on the seat of the wagon, which was now parked in front of his house, near the town square. Marrane rolled her eyes at him and walked back toward the house. Hopping down from the bench, he immediately felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. Probably a muscle cramp, he figured, taking off his coat. He froze as he saw what the source of the pain was. On his shoulder was a mark of black heart, with two wings, one black and bat-like, and one white and feathered. The odd tattoo was caked with dried blood, and, perhaps most disturbingly, was identical to the mark the woman in his dream had borne on her chest.

Yay for the confused Conro! Hopefully I get a chance to write the next chaper before too long, bu no promises...


End file.
